An account of what I see, hear, smell, taste and touch in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts and beyond.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

CHALLENGE!

Can anyone give me the name of an economically successful and vibrant city that does not have a dense population of middle to upper class folks living in it's urban core?

(before anyone jumps all over me for being a racist or bigot or class warfare artist or all the other outstanding names I have been called over the last few days note that I didn't say exclusively middle to upper class)

12 comments:

We are not saying that there is anything wrong with low income housing. The point is that the City of Worcester is focusing solely on low to mod income housing especially in its urban core. Maybe it should work on putting packages together to attract middle to high income developers like they did for the Hanover Theatre (waiving permitting fees, locked in assessed values, etc).

Brooklyn existed for a very long time without a dense population of middle to upper class folks living in it's urban core. Then it changed hands and much rezoning took place. It was greatly gentrified. In came a lot of big business and out went a lot of the long time residents. They even moved folks out of projects, renovated, and turned them into high priced co-ops. Those people who once lived there had to get placed somewhere, so low-income housing developments began popping up in suburban surroundings and the folks in those neighborhoods weren't too happy at all.

Look at Manhattan's lower East Side - same thing.

A dense population of middle to upper class folks is a great thing ideally, but the middle class is dissolving and upper class is always a narrow fixed number.

WooTown is never going to be Manhattah or Brooklyn...lets keep the comparisons a comparison and then we can have a conversation...how about discussing Providence, Somerville, Haverhill, Nashua, Manchester...

Many of us speaking out live, work and own within the urban core and have for years..we are the ones being squeezed out not the opposite

I am not sure what your delight is in keeping the population of the City of Worcester below the poverty level BA....but you are succeeding

I agree Paulie but will continue to disagree about Somerville, which although a separate municipality exists and flourishes only as part of the greater Boston metropolitan area as do Cambridge, Newton, and, Quincy. Every day there are a million plus within a subways ride of all Somerville has to offer. Even though it is a separate municipality you have to look at Somerville as a collection of Boston neighborhoods.

Just as you can't in reality refer to Worcester as the second biggest city in New England, you also can't refer to Somerville as it's own island. It's a satellite that revolves around Boston. As Boston goes, so goes Somerville. It doesn't exist independently of Boston but exists in fact due to Boston.

you may look at it this way but I would say many,many would disagree with you Gabriel...no community is an island today...only WooTown wants to be:>) your supposition is pretty simplistic..Somerville has become a destination place for folks from all over now...my event last week had folks from 13 states..they came for my event not because it was next door to Boston...U2 played in Somerville last week because it is a place to be now..Springsteen played there two years ago...

Boston Globe story did a huge story on the real estate market and baby boomahs who are now buying in Somerville and not in Boston...many communities around Boston that are not doing as well....

Of course it doesn't hurt to be close to Boston and making this statement should be no eye raiser but to say Somerville in it's state would not be without Boston is downright foolish....I would say Cambridge has more effect on The Ville more than Boston to be quite honest with you..

I know a gal head of a major local (WooTown) charity who lives in Somerville..commutes everyday.

Somerville has become a haven for women today who feel it is a safe community-huge gay community....women & gays flock away from WooTown..

I have thousands of young bright customers who work around Rt 128 who live and play in Somerville...

Somerville was as gritty and immigrant friendly as WooTown is..and it is still immigrant friendly and some parts gritty albeit less and less every year.

Again, I would say your lack of real knowledge of Somerville and the history of it's gentrification is fairly simplistic...there are far more reasons that the city has evolved..and yes one of those reasons being that it is clustered with many like minded municipalities.

"exists and flourishes only as part of the greater Boston metropolitan area as do Cambridge, Newton, and, Quincy"

>>this statement is uddah nonsense Gabriel...Cambridge is home to two of the best colleges on the planet...it's commercial base is huge as is Newton's...it's culture equal to many major cities in the World...bilionaires live in Cambridge and Newton..I am not sure you really know the communities you are speaking about mate

About Me

I live in Worcester, Massachusetts. I try to make the best of it by getting excited about the good things it does offer while at the same time thinking about how it could be better and live up to it's potential.